Open-ended storage containers for file drawers are shells or housing compartments for the drawers. The drawers themselves usually have full front and back walls with cut-down sides extending therebetween. When a drawer is formed of fiberboard, it preferably is formed of a single blank, that is suitably cut, notched, and scored, as is well known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
A shell for such a drawer generally includes four sides forming a top wall, bottom wall, two side walls, and optionally one end wall, leaving at least one open end, which generally is the forward end. Particularly when the shell is made of fiberboard, the open end is formed by folding scored flaps, free-edged extensions of the bottom, top, and side walls, inwardly back upon themselves, leaving a double layered forward edge about the entire open end.
The drawer is slid in and out of the shell through this open end. Frames are sometimes placed about this edge to reinforce the entire shell, at least aiding in maintaining the shell in its proper squared position. Channelled frames that receive the edges of the shell at its open end additionally maintain the integrity of the shell by holding the flaps forming the edges against the wall from which they extend. These frames are external and when used together with a shell having only one open end, cause a stacking problem. The peripheral dimensions of the frame itself are slightly larger than the shell it receives. When stacked, this differential is muliplied and results in vertical stacks wherein the storage containers slope downwardly from front to rear. This effect is of course proportional to the number of storage containers in the stack.
Shells also have been reinforced at their open ends with internal reinforcing bars which have been formed, in some instances, with circular cross sections. Internal reinforcing bars, as the term is being used herein, are sandwiched between layers of the walls near the open end of the shell, such as between a wall and its extension that is folded back upon the wall. These internal reinforcing bars, particularly those having circular cross sections, often are sturdier than external frames. They do not, however, themselves keep the flap extensions in place, as would external channelled frames.
It is often desirable to maintain a plurality of shells for individual drawers together as one unit when in use. A series of shells can be formed as an integral unit, but such a unit would be cumbersome for transportation, or storage when not in use, and would be less versatile than individual drawer shells. Individual shells are therefore often grouped together, side by side, and one above another, in order to maintain related drawer files in close proximity while minimizing space requirements. To avoid accidental displacement of any of the shells from the desired grouping, means for interconnecting a shell to adjacent shells are highly desirable. Securement of a shell to the shells above and below is desirable, as is securement to the shells on the sides. Means for interlocking a shell grouping, to be most efficient, should be sufficiently strong to avoid accidental displacement and yet should be temporary, to allow a shell to be easily removed from the grouping when necessary. The most advantageous means for interlocking shells would have no members protruding outward of the shell that could interfere with the use of a shell singly.
In the technical field of storage compartments, particularly fiberboard storage compartments, ease of handling and durability are the factors to be maximized, while cost is to be minimized. Means for achieving any of these ends, without undue adverse effects on the others, is highly beneficial.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved external channelled frame that is as sturdy as an internal reinforcing bar and elminates the stacking problems of external frames, without significantly increasing the expense thereof. It is an object to provide a reinforcing member for an open-ended storage compartment with the advantages of both an external channelled frame and internal reinforcing bar. It is a further object to provide an external frame for an open-ended shell or the like that receives an efficient linking means. It is another object to provide a combination of a frame for an open-ended shell and a removable linking means that leaves no protruding members on the shell or frame when removed.